Miguel Gets Elevated In His “…All” Video

Miguel continues to demonstrate that he can play with R&B’s heavy hitters — and maybe out-smart them. In “…All”, the hazy new track from the second installment in his mysterious Art Dealer Chic EP series, Miguel takes listeners on a brief, trippy ride past the velvet rope into (what we imagine to be his) bleary-eyed after-hours life. The galloping beat drops in and out of the mix, as if the listener is an altered state, and our field of vision is askew.

But we catch fleeting glimpses of two ladies getting affectionate with each other, and of Miguel guzzling from a 40 oz. bottle… maybe it hasn’t been such a terrible evening? If this is how Miguel’s been spending his nights, we can hardly blame him for taking his time recording a new full-length album. Download link below.

“Help you bring your mind to a better place / Teach each other how to elevate” Miguel sings in “…All” — we assume he’s singing to us about his mission in music. (Though, in fairness, he just might be singing to those two ladies).

But “…All” isn’t a simple ride through clubland. Miguel’s lyrics appear to find him wrestling with his own desire for success. In the end, he decides: “Fuck it, everybody’s selfish.”

“…All” follows the sleazy, fuzzy “Arch & Point” and provides yet more reason to try out Art Dealer Chic 2, the second volume in his new series. (Download the EP free with your email address.) In a shift from the first release, Miguel steps up the use of scuffed-up rock licks and psychedelic effects to tweak what had been his butter-smooth R&B sound. While there will never be another Prince, it’s about time we encountered an artist who’s capable of pulling off these kinds of experiments. Miguel was perhaps wise to keep his Art Dealer Chic tracks short — not least because they have us intrigued to hear another proper studio album.

Is Miguel’s new jam all you need right now? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments.